Sucrose has heretofore been widely used in confectionary and foods due to its excellent sweetness, body taste, crystallinity, etc. However, sucrose can form a substrate for dextran sucrase produced by intraoral microorganisms, and, as a result, frequent intake of sucrose leads to formation of insoluble dextran in the mouth; thus formation of dental plaque is accelerated. Therefore, sucrose is said to possess cariogenicity.
The mechanism of the occurrence of dental caries appears to comprise the following steps: (1) a step wherein sucrose is converted to insoluble dextran by the action of dextran sucrase produced by a cariogenic microorganism of Streptococcus mutans or the like, and, at the same time, adsorbs the cariogenic microorganisms to form dental plaque; and (2) a step wherein fermentable sugars such as glucose and sucrose are fermented by the microorganisms in the dental plaque deposited on the surface of the teeth to produce organic acids (comprising mainly lactic acid) which reduce pH and cause a deliming phenomenon.
Polyols such as xylytol and saccharin and synthetic sweeteners such as cyclamate and aspartame are known as low-cariogenic sweeteners. But, these sweeteners have defects that, for example, the former easily causes diarrhea and the latter lacks body taste.
Furthermore, a low-calorific sweetener is desired for a diet food.
It is, therefore desired to develop a low-calorific and low-cariogenic sweetener having the excellent properties of sucrose and not having the above defects.